Elite Traveler Summer 2022

by Doug Gollan LEADERS IN LUXURY

CHARTER JETS Private aviation is going green — and in a big way. It has certainly been a long road, and the industry often receives less recognition than it should.

responsible luxury focus must be clear: Billionaires’ private jets and holiday charter trips to Ibiza and Barbados are part of a larger fi sh tank. That same business aviation infrastructure creates jobs in regions and communities that are not well-served by scheduled airlines. It’s also the same ecosystem that delivers fi rst responders and lifesaving emergency supplies after natural disasters, brings doctors to rural patients, and supports both medical evacuation and organ transplant fl ights. For example, GrandView Aviation, a US helicopter and light jet operator, expanded its bases for organ transplant fl ights nationwide by also o ff ering jet card memberships on its Embraer Phenom 300 fl eet for use when they are not fl ying lifesaving missions. So, besides o ff setting your own fl ights, take heart that your private jet journeys play a vital role in a more extensive and more critical global transportation and logistics network.

implementing green business practices big and small. Last year, Clay Lacy installed over 30,000 sq ft of solar panels at its Van Nuys Airport facilities in Los Angeles. The electricity produced is equal to burning 584,000 lbs of coal. Luxury charter operator VistaJet replaced over 90% of single-use cabin items with sustainable alternatives such as bamboo toothbrushes and biodegradable packaging. It pledges to be carbon neutral by 2025, a quarter-century ahead of the industry’s target. Directional Aviation’s brands — Flexjet, Sentient Jet, FXAir and PrivateFly — all now include carbon o ff sets as part of the programs they sell. Jet card seller Sentient (which, like PrivateFly and Flexjet Europe, o ff sets 300% of carbon emissions to account for water vapor, aerosols and nitrous oxide) covered 30,000 fl ight segments in the fi rst 12 months of its program. Still, any discussion of private aviation’s

Yet, according to private aviation services buyer’s guide Private Jet Card Comparisons , the past 18 months saw more than a dozen charter and fractional operators add options to o ff set emissions and, in some cases, include them as part of the package. As the industry’s largest company, Berkshire Hathaway-owned NetJets has long had a focus on being green. It opened its fi rst LEED-certi fi ed building at its Columbus, Ohio headquarters in 2012. Last year, it invested in WasteFuel, which will convert municipal waste to Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The 2020 launch of its Global Sustainability Program was designed to give the outside world a 360-degree view of its wide-ranging e ff orts and use its clout to help move the industry forward. Beyond initiatives around SAF and o ff setting fl ight emissions, private jet operators are doggedly

This image The fl agship of the NetJets Fleet, the Bombardier Global 7500